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by JillTheCrazy1
Summary: Set shortly after SSS. Section9 deals with a mysterious Virus with some new Rookies, one needing to prove herself more than the others. ((Was originally the story Protégé but that has been DISCONTINUED and updated to this.)) O/C characters. Genres were tricky... No Update Schedule.
1. Chapter 1

1

Togusa took a seat in his chair and pulled himself closer to his desk.

"So, how do you think this new group is going so fair," he asked, "I see a few of them were able to stick it out."

Batou sat across from him, his hands in his pockets as he slouched lamely in his chair.

"We can only wait and see over the next few weeks," the cyborg shrugged, "We had to drop a few of them that couldn't handle the stress tests."

"What's the plan, now?"

"Starting Monday, they are going to show me what they can do in this field," Batou answered, "Hopefully, it'll be people we can work with. It's getting harder to find anybody."

Togusa agreed, "That's for sure. And you're raising the level of difficulty again, right?"

"According to the Chief, I have to, thanks to the Major butting in." His frown deepened. "Not that she's around to notice otherwise…"

Togusa silently agreed. Since her return several months ago, the Major was still jet-setting as an independent while working for Section 9. Her thoroughness of the team's operations had forced a sharp decrease in the number of members. That purge was causing a rift between her and some of the members of Section 9, both seniors and rookies.

Even Togusa was feeling jaded. The Major had retained her former position as field commander, hardly bothered him; he knew three superiors were better than simply himself, as Batou was more of less there on site. Her rearranging of a team he helped form in her absence was what was nagging at him, causing his demons of self-confidence and inadequacy to question him regularly.

"That can't be helped," he said finally, "It's the Chief's choice to allow her to…well, be the Major, I guess."

"Maybe he's getting too old," Batou muttered.

"Let's move on," Togusa suggested firmly, "Back to the applicants. Are most of them from the military?"

"Yeah, and from private contractors," he answered. Batou pushed his chair away and stood. "I got some other things to do, so I'll see you later."

"Oh, ok." Togusa hesitated. "Sorry I can't be around to help out as much this time, but if you need me, let

me know."

"I guess."

He sighed wearily after Batou closed the office door behind him. He had thought Batou would have lightened up since the Major's return, yet the cyborg was still agitated about her situation with Section 9. He did not know how to give Batou advice because he himself felt lost. He was praying they could ride out the emotional issues like they usually do, together or not.

Standing, he picked up the tablet from his desk and left his office. He met with Ishikawa in the hallway and boarded the elevator with him.

"So is he going to come this time?" The older man asked.

"I am saying no because he said he has stuff to do," Togusa answered, "You'd think he would since the Major wanted in on this meeting."

"He'll get over it," Ishikawa assumed, "He feels like a dog that got hit with a rolled-up newspaper. He's mad now, but give him time."

"Probably." There was a hint of skepticism in his tone.

"Really. He's training some new recruits, right? We all know he gets off kicking them around."  
"You're not wrong," Togusa laughed a little, "I guess I'm worrying too much."

"You've always been a worrier…"

They exited the elevator and headed for the Chief's office. The senior officers of Section 9 were there also, including the Major. She had taken her old spot next to the Chief's desk.

"Alright, let's begin," the old man started, "The Ministry has asked us to look into a suspicious virus that has been popping up at various manufacturers of prosthetics and cybernetics. So far, four heavy hitters of the industry have reported incidents and cannot find any evidence that could point into the direction of a culprit."

"This kind of thing happens every day," Togusa started, "What's so special about this time? And are they sure this isn't just some corporate rivalry tactic?"

"All of them are certain their employees have not been subjected to hacking or the virus. Because they have searched their employees, the chances of an infiltrator from another company is slim."

"I think I remember now," Ishikawa recalled, "Is this is virus that has been randomly infecting prosthetics, causing irreversible malfunctions?"

"That's right. So far it seems to be infecting the victim's Cyberbrain, then shuts down various parts within the rest of the body," the Major explained, "And it isn't just attacking someone using full prosthetic bodies; it's been found in prosthetics being used singularly, like an arm or leg."

The office door opened, causing all conversation to cease.

"If you were going to be in on this, you could've been on time," The Chief reprimanded.

Batou shrugged, "Whatever. Don't bother catching me up, then."

Togusa and Ishikawa glanced at each other as Batou closed the door and leaned his back against the wall beside the frame.

"You haven't missed much," The Major told him, "We were just discussing some information about the Necro Virus."


	2. Chapter 2

2

*The 2nd rookie that was hired by S9 during 2nd Gig also appears in SSS and was never given a name as far as I know. He is going to be dubbed Ren*

*Thanks to my editor who has read this chapter so many times I just totally owe him one by finally posting this.*

There was a nice cool breeze as the sun warmly soaked the city. There were only a few white puffy clouds lazily drifting across the deep blue sky. It was the type of day nobody wanted to waste inside of an artificially lit, air circulating office building.

Azuma stared at the computer on his desk in front of him. He had little motivation to even read the report that was waiting for him on the bright screen.

With a lack of adventure filled field assignments recently, he had become lazy. He tilted his head back and leaned into his chair. He yawned loudly, stretching his arms above his head.

"Hey, that's where you are!"

Azuma sat up quickly and turned toward the door.

It was Ren. He was the over-confident cyborg that joined Section 9 during the Dejima crisis, along with Azuma and Yano. Since then, he was under Togusa's field command. He was stocky and his dark hair was buzz cut. He wore a dark brown quarter-zip sweatshirt with tan slacks.

"Batou is working with some freshmen," Ren told him, "Want to watch the show?"

Azuma stood, saying, "Better than sitting here."

As they continued to the lower levels of the building, Ren went on, "I heard Batou saying that there's only 8 or so. He's at the shooting range with some of them now."

"The last time there were tryouts was a few months ago, right?" Azuma noticed, "Nobody came from that."

They entered the observation area that allowed an audience a safe view behind the shooters participating.

"I thought they were using the whole range," Ren muttered lamely, "Not the benches."  
"So you didn't see what they were doing before deciding to come here?" Azuma groaned.

They greeted Togusa and Saito, who were already there.

"Batou is going over the safety course before bringing them out," Saito said, "He should be finishing up soon."

"What did you think of them?" Ren asked.

"I can't say," Saito answered, "This is my first time meeting them and they haven't even started yet."

Ren frowned at the cold reply yet remained silent.

Azuma turned to Togusa and wondered why he was at there.

"I was using the range with Batou and he didn't realize he was running late," the detective answered with a shrug, "I figured I mind as well stay here and see what there is to see. The big question is, why are you two here? Don't you have work to do?"

Azuma nodded to Ren, taking a step back as the rookie fumbled with an answer.

A door across the room opened with Batou leading his group out. He told them to pick a bench and don the safety gear provided at each station.

Azuma flinched as Ren's elbow jabbed him in his ribs.

"There's a girl," the rookie observed, "Third one down."

They watched her as she adjusted the ear plugs before she pulled on her eye protection.

The young woman certainly stood out from the rest, not only because of her gender, but because her height at 5'5" and lean build had been rather noticeable among the burly and heavily cyberized men around her. She was wearing somewhat worn black boots, black jeans, and an olive green zip-up hoodie that was at least one size too big. She had coffee brown hair, the bangs long enough to skim the bridge of her nose and tied back in a low ponytail that stopped just past her shoulders.

"That's…unusual," Togusa commented, "There aren't many women in this field. At least, she's the first applicant I've seen."

"We have the Major," Azuma pointed out.

Ren groaned, "We'd be labeled prejudice if we didn't hire this girl…"

"That's not true," Saito corrected, "If she can't handle this line of work, then she won't last. The Chief will make sure there's no legal strings attached if she can't cut it."

Farther down the line, Batou signaled to Saito. The sniper flicked a switch that was behind him on the wall. A red bulb went on above the doors, inside the room and outside in the hallway. Saito walked up with Batou to watch the results.

"Alright, guys," Batou barked, "When you're ready, start shooting!"

The gentle chime of the empty shells against the hard floor was obscured by the sharp _crack_ of gunfire echoing throughout the range as each person emptied their Seburo M5.

"Everyone done? Good. Guns down and step away."

Saito pressed a button beside the caution switch. The damaged targets sprang forward from down the range, halting at their shooters.

"Now you have a feel for the weapon," he said, "You can see for yourself how you did."

The shooters took a moment to assess their work.

"Well?" Batou asked Saito.

After a moment of observation, the sniper aloofly replied, "Not bad, I guess."

The main door behind suddenly opened with an obvious disregard to the glowing warning light above them.

"What're you doing here, Major?" Batou asked rather cynically, "The rookies aren't your department."

"I have to kill some time before the Chief gets back with Proto," she answered, ignoring his tone, "I was curious to see how things were going."

As the officers talked amongst themselves, so did the rookies. The group had been together for the past few weeks since they were hired on and a few of the men had got to know each other.

The woman at the range huffed, pulling the earmuffs from around her neck and set them on the bench beside the Seburo. She looked at the torn target at the end of the range.

Shiro, who had taken the bench beside hers, complimented, "You did really well."

After a moment, she shrugged at him awkwardly.

Shiro was the oldest of the group to apply. He had been recommended by a member of the JSDF that Chief Aramaki had served with. She noticed his build was similar to Batou, tall and built, though how much of his body was cyberized, she did not know. He had sandy tan khakis and a navy blue t-shirt. He had medium length dark brown hair that he did not seem to worry much about regarding style. His eyes were a medium gold color.

"Really," Shiro added, "That's good."

"…because women are better shooters." They turned around, finding the Major had approached. "What's your name?"

"Uh…Matti, sir." She inwardly winced. The recruit felt heat surge to her face as the Major gazed at her.

"Well, Matti, you certainly prove that old statistic accurately," the Major told her, "Some of your fellow men didn't get as many dead center as you did."

Her bright blue eyes stared anxiously back, not daring to see the reactions of the other recruits.

"Don't get too excited, Major," Togusa jest, "They're still going need more training."

"Right. Let's have one more round before we finish up," Batou decided, "Azuma, Ren, get the extra ammo and set up fresh targets."

"We'll do it."

While they waited for them to return, the rookies chatted again. Shiro and Matti watched as the targets were being replaced.

Shiro muttered, "Who is that?"

Matti silently shook her head, her face still flushed as she glanced at the agents behind them.

"Looks like some of them have had their hands held throughout their carrier," Saito replied coldly, "Can't say I am surprised."

Batou agreed, "I'm gonna have to send some of these away. I really don't want to put effort into simple training exercises that should've already been covered where they've come from. I don't know how much more I can modify the testing phases. If I make them any easier, any fool could join Section 9. We ended up with Togusa doing that and look at how long it took us to get him on track!"

"Hey!" Togusa frowned at the cyborg. He had to wonder if he was being stonier than usual.

"Don't be like that," the Major reassured him, "You should be proud that all of that's behind you. _You_ are the second field commander now."

"Thank you, Major." he sighed, though reluctantly.

"So, what does that mean for your little protégé?" she asked slyly, turning to Batou, "Living up to _your _recommendation?"

He answered arrogantly, "Why are you even questioning me?"

"Protégé?" Togusa parroted, "You know someone here?"

"Hey, everything is all set!" Ren called.

Batou ordered, "Alright, have at it!"


End file.
